Principal Product Manager, Payroll Platform

About Gusto, Inc. Gusto has been growing the small business economy with technology and heart for more than a decade. Launched in 2012 as ZenPayroll, today Gusto serves more than 500,000 businesses nationwide. Each year we process tens of billions of dollars of payroll and provide employee benefits—like health insurance and 401(k) accounts—while helping companies create incredible work places. Through one refreshingly easy, integrated platform, we automate and simplify your payroll, benefits, and HR, all while providing expert support. You and your employees will get the peace of mind you need to do your best work. We offer: ▪️ Automated Tax Filing ▪️ Comprehensive HR & Benefits ▪️ Contractor Support ▪️ Integrations & Employee Self-Service ▪️ And so much more We started Gusto with a simple belief: small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. And they deserve a partner that is committed to making their life better.

Gusto, Inc.

Growing the small business economy with technology and heart 🧡⚡️

compliancepayrollhuman resourcesbenefitsand small business

G

gusto.com

1,001-5,000 employees

Software Development

San Francisco, California

2011

Privately Held

168k LinkedIn followers

Raised $746.1M

• Named #1 best software for small business
• [https://gusto.com/about/awards-recognition]of 2024 by G2
• 2,700+ employees in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Turkiye and
• growing
• Over $500M in annual revenue
• The SMB market is large (and growing!) with huge opportunities for Gusto to
• make an incredible impact for SMBs
• There are 6.2M employers in the US, 98% have fewer than 100 employees (1)
• 550,000 new businesses are created each year in the US (1)
• Our Product team is lean, which means you’ll have a high degree of impact and
• ownership. We believe in smaller, empowered teams that move quickly with less
• overhead. You’ll move fast by pairing sharp product judgment with fluency in
• AI tools, automating what slows teams down and amplifying what makes them
• creative and high-performing.
• We’re boundaryless builders. Lines between roles are intentionally blurred,
• and our PMs do whatever it takes to deliver outcomes. You’ll prototype,
• automate, design, and ship, using AI as your co-builder to turn problems into
• durable solutions that deliver customer value with urgency and care.
• We’re here to serve small and medium businesses. Gusto has a strong
• mission-driven culture, and we care deeply about lifting up these business
• owners, building technology for an AI-first world that gives them the
• superpowers to run and grow their businesses with confidence.
• We’re comfortable with change. Our environment moves fast, and PMs here
• thrive in ambiguity, blending curiosity, experimentation, and AI-native craft
• to shape how products (and work itself) are built at Gusto.
• Ownership: Define the vision, strategy and roadmap for Payroll Platform.
• Decide what belongs in the shared platform and what teams build on top,
• including API contracts, common pay-input interfaces and the boundaries
• between payroll and neighboring systems.
• North Star: Drive adoption by the teams, partners and agents building on
• payroll. Define and use metrics for adoption, reliability and error rates,
• and connect them to customer outcomes such as fewer payroll errors and less
• time preparing payroll.
• Collaborate: Lead work across engineering, design, data and compliance.
• Partner with the teams consuming the platform, make speed-versus-safety
• trade-offs explicit, and help what they build feel like one product.
• Build a unified payroll API and lead migrations of existing users and systems
• onto it, making it easier for teams and partners to support different worker
• types and new ways to pay people.
• Define the payroll actions, controls, audit trails and evaluations that let
• AI agents work safely. Prototype and test with AI, and expand agent autonomy
• as evidence supports it.

• 8+ years of direct Product Management experience.
• Experience owning a platform, API or developer product that other teams or
• partners built on, and driving its adoption.
• Technical fluency in APIs, data models and system design, with experience
• leading a migration to a new API or interface and credibility with senior
• engineers.
• Strong platform judgment: you can decide what the shared system should and
• shouldn’t do, and make thoughtful choices about contracts and other decisions
• that are difficult to reverse.
• Experience designing for trust in systems where errors have real
• consequences, including clear controls, auditability and evidence-based
• expansion of automation.
• Hands-on experience building with LLMs or agents, including tool design and
• evaluations. You use AI to prototype and ship, and can explain the choices
• and trade-offs behind your work.
• Experience leading multi-team work across engineering, design and data, and
• connecting platform metrics to customer outcomes. Payroll, payments, tax or
• fintech experience is a plus, not required; we’ll teach the domain.
• If you don't think you meet all of the criteria above but still are interested
• in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box, and we're looking for someone
• excited to join the team.
• Our cash compensation amount for this role is $179,000,000/yr to $220,000/yr in
• Denver & most major metro locations, and $210,000/yr to $260,000/yr for San
• Francisco, Seattle & New York. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple
• factors, including candidate location, experience, and expertise, and may vary
• from the amounts listed above.
• At Gusto, we don't use titles the traditional way, as a signal of rank or
• hierarchy. Instead, our titles describe two things at once — your craft (what
• you do, e.g. Engineering, Design) and your scope of ownership (what you're
• accountable for) — which is why you'll see something like "Head of X" instead of
• a rank word like "Director" that tells you neither. Because of this, the title
• on this posting may look different from what you'd expect based on the scope and
• seniority of the role, and from how similar roles are typically titled
• elsewhere. If you have questions about how this role compares to your current
• title or level, your recruiter can help translate.
• Gusto has physical office spaces in Denver, San Francisco, and New York City.
• Employees who are based in those locations will be expected to work from the
• office on designated days approximately 2-3 days per week (or more depending on
• role). The same office expectations apply to all Symmetry roles, Gusto's
• subsidiary, whose physical office is in Scottsdale.
• Note: The San Francisco office expectations encompass both the San Francisco and
• San Jose metro areas.
• When approved to work from a location other than a Gusto office, a secure,
• reliable, and consistent internet connection is required. This includes
• non-office days for hybrid employees.
• Reliable, consistent presence: We expect regular and predictable attendance,
• whether you're working in-office, hybrid, or fully remote, so that you stay
• closely connected to your team, customers, and stakeholders in real time and
• ensure colleagues and customers receive the timely support and responsiveness
• they deserve.
• Our customers come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people
• from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it's the right thing to do,
• but because it makes our company stronger. If you share our values and our
• enthusiasm for small businesses, you will find a home at Gusto.
• Gusto takes security and protection of your personal information very seriously.
• Personal information collected and processed as part of your Gusto application

• Competitive base pay
• Equity
• RSUs
• Health insurance
• 401(k)